]]>https://londonlocomotion.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/todays-transport-news-2/feed/0edfranklKnightsbridgeGetting hot in here? If you’re on a tube at Oxford Circus, then yes, probablyhttps://londonlocomotion.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/getting-hot-in-here-if-youre-on-a-tube-at-oxford-circus-then-yes-probably/
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Image: TfL. Click for the full map

There’s nothing us Londoners love more than a bit of sun (except maybe free stuff). But be warned: while the sunshine makes the post-work Friday pint far more pleasant, it makes commuting a whole lot sweatier. If you’re prone to perspiration you might want to check out this map from TFL, showing the tube’s hottest stations (do not confuse with The Hot Line).

The map is based on data from 2010, but we doubt it’s changed much (global warming won’t kick in until we’re all dead, right?). If you have the time and the inclination you can use the map to plan a sweat-free route to work for those balmy summer days. Or you could just use deodorant, you slob, you.

Finding out about the amount of legroom on trains is like trying finding out the Queen’s inside leg measurement: it’s risky, fraught with difficulty, and tantamount to treason.

Legroom (or lack of it) is a pet hate of mine, having endured many journeys where I have had to sit perfectly still, lest my thigh come into contact with the stranger’s opposite. I mean, thigh rubbing is more a third date thing.

Having contacted all the major rail companies and been ignored/refused by all of them, the best figures available were courtesy of Justin Smith on railforums.co.uk. He measured the distance from the rear of the seat to where one’s knees normally would be. I converted them from inches to centimetres, and put them into a table, and a graph. The list is not exhaustive.

As you can see, Northern Rail is the worst train company, with all of their rolling stock offering just 66cm in legroom – that’s the same as a 26 inch telly. However, the worst single train is the East Midlands class 158, with 63.5cm of legroom. This train is a long-distance train that runs from Norwich to Liverpool – a journey that takes over four hours. Ouch.

At a third more room than Northern Rail, Hull Trains offers the most generous legroom for standard class passengers, at a capacious 86.4cm – the same as in first class. Finally, a reason to go to Hull! Out of the trains to offer ‘priority’ seating (generally for those who are disabled, with pushchairs or small children), only on Hull Trains is the priority seating more generous than in first class – but only by two centimetres.

The average length of seating in the eight trains with First Class is 90.8cm, whereas standard class in the same eight trains measures at an average of just 73.7cm. The biggest class divide is on the electric East Coast train (which runs on the West Coast Main Line), with 25.3cm difference between first class and standard class.

Part of the reason why it is so difficult to work out on which journeys you will be luxuriating in space or wedged in like a Lego brick at an orgy is because the seating layout is not dependent on the train company itself, but the rolling stock each company runs (i.e. looking at different carriages – trainspotting territory).

However, even if two train companies own the same type of rolling stock, they often refurbish the interiors to their own specifications. Therefore, it is highly likely that legroom on a train is almost as idiosyncratic as the train itself. Perhaps the best advice is to invest in a straitjacket, so you will be sure you can use the seat next to you to put your feet up.

The Emirates Air Line (as we must call it by the law of corporate sponsorship) has been open since June 2012. A short jaunt linking the O2 arena with the Excel Conference centre at the Royal Docks, the cable car has proved controversial: confusing some and baffling others. So just how many Londoners are commuting to work like a villain from a bad James Bond film?

During the Olympics it reportedly got 70,000 visitors a week, but in those heady days Londoners believed they could fly and there was wiff-waff at the Excel Centre. Annoyingly, TFL figures don’t stretch back that far, but numbers hovered around 40,000 in the months afterwards, glimpsing their former glory in the first week of November, when 70,704 took to the sky.

But then winter struck, the Olympic euphoria wore off and Londoners remembered they are miserable. Visitors dropped to around 20,000 a week, barring the odd low caused by maintenance or spike around a holiday. It’s only in the last month, when the sun finally emerged from our endless winter, that visitors have picked up again. The day after I recorded these videos – a shining, chiffon day – the queue stretched down the dock.

This stampede points towards something that Boris Johnson has long denied: this is a subsidised tourist attraction, rather than public transport. Certainly, the set-up has a retro-futuristic charm – seeing it whir overhead reminds you of a low-rent Epcot. As you can see from our video, the views are decent enough if you ignore the cement works. Yet the Dome and Canary Wharf are such massive structures that the extra height doesn’t really change your perspective. It’s akin to climbing a ladder to get a better look at the Moon.

People in the area seem to have a real affection for the whirligig, revealing two trends:
1. Many of them loved the cable car.
2. None of them used the cable car, even the people who worked at either end of it.

This is borne out by TFL’s customer satisfaction survey, which interviewed 782 people between September and January 2013. While overall satisfaction was around 93% (75% among actual Londoners), eight out of ten of those surveyed were first time flyers. Moreover, while about half said they would use the service again in the next 6 months, 40% said they might or didn’t know. (Interestingly, there isn’t a ‘No, I won’t use it again’ option listed: the closest is ‘Not applicable – not returning to London in the forseeable future’.) Finally, satisfaction took a major hit in wet weather, and was among the highest with those visiting ‘just for the experience’. Put that together and what have you got? Sightseers. Day-trippers, yeah. It took us so long to find out, but we found out.

So it seems the Air Line is a heavily-sponsored, tax-payer subsidised tourist attraction. But what about commuters? Well, figures from last October revealed that only 16 people (16!) took enough trips to qualify for a regular user discount. In November, they accounted for less than 0.01% of all trips, with just 1,400 discounts being given out in the 400,000 journeys since the Olympics.

The problem is that few people need to move between the Excel conference centre and the O2 arena, unless they are attending a dentistry seminar in the morning and a Beyoncé concert at night. From both ends, the DLR or Jubilee lines are much more useful routes into the City, and by 2018 the Crossrail station at Custom House will leave this looking like a flying Segway. Plus, who commutes by hanging gondola? Blimp salesmen?

I live nearish the Royal Docks, and occasionally take a ride into the cinema at the O2. Not only does it double the price of my ticket for Iron Man 3, but it’s less handy than you think. The service stops at 8:00, stranding you at the end of your movie or concert. Plus, the pick-up line “do you want to get the cable car back to my place?” only works if you’re a ski-instructor and live in a chalet.

It is still early days. The Air Line is less than a year old and has only gone through one winter season thus far: summer is sure to be more popular. Londoners prefer to soar through clear blue skies, rather than hang from leaden clouds. What’s more, looking down on The Dome is a reminder that London has a habit of taming white elephants.

Low budget and barely original but still sort of entertaining video of the week: We know, we know. Another video about making commuting fun. They’re sort of missing the point, aren’t they? Commuting isn’t fun! It’s damn serious business. But we have a secret: we love Pictionary. Anything involving Pictionary (and sweets) we thoroughly approve of. Also from now on we will refer to the tube only as ‘the fundeground’. Deadpan voice compulsory.

Many companies offer group discounts, but these are mostly for three or more people. Suitable for less traditional relationships, but no use for commuting couples.

Greater Anglia offered a Couple’s Ticket this past Valentine’s Day, giving a 25% discount for romantic city breaks. It encouraged couples to come into London, because perhaps that’s where they left the spark in their relationship.

Other than that, you seem to be out of luck. That said, we do hear rumours of couples sharing discounts between them, but you want to be careful with that.

Well we’ve done the leg-work and found all the stations in zones 1 & 2 that are quicker to walk than to tube! Of the 62 stations in zone 1, 42 have stations nearby that’re quicker to walk to, making them potentially useless to you! Yay!

Click “View Larger Map” below to see the full map and list of stations.

Are there ones we’ve missed? Comment below in the usual place.

And check out this map from 2003 which gives quick walking distances on Harry Beck’s diagram.

The most pointless Instagrams of St Pancras

As you know, St Pancras holds a special place in my heart because it is my commuter station. Which also happens to house the Eurostar, a champagne bar, designer shops, a piano and art installations. What does this mean? Photos Instagrammed to within an inch of their lives. Enjoy.